Town Hall: Donald Trump

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Hi everybody, and good evening. It’s good to have you with us, and welcome to Miami and our town hall with President Donald Trump. And we want to say right off the top, this is not how things were supposed to go tonight. This was supposed to be a town hall debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. But after the President contracted COVID, the debate commission announced it would have to be a virtual debate because of health concerns. The President then said he would not participate in a virtual debate. At that point, Joe Biden scheduled a town hall tonight in Pennsylvania on another network, and now the President is doing the same, his own town hall with the same venue format and time as NBC’s town hall with Joe Biden last week. So the two candidates go head to head tonight, though, not face to face, each in a key battleground state.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
And tonight, the President will be taking questions from voters here in Miami, who we should mention are socially distanced and they’re wearing masks. And I should say, this audience looks a bit like America, it’s divided. Some here voted for the president in 2016 and plan to again, some support Joe Biden, and some say they are truly undecided. We’re going to get a mix of questions on a range of topics, and we’re going to get to those questions in a moment. But first with all of that ado, welcome, Mr. President, and thank you for being here.

[DONALD TRUMP]
That was very well stated, I have to say. Good job.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Thank you. We’re glad you’re here, we’re glad you’re well. We send our best to the First Lady and to Barron.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Thank you, thank you.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Do you have any remaining symptoms from COVID?

[DONALD TRUMP]
Nothing whatsoever, I’m great, I feel good. I was in North Carolina today and did a big rally with tremendous turnout, and I just feel really good. Florida, Pennsylvania, were- They said, “Let’s go to the hospital.” I said, “That’s okay. I’m going to respond to what you say.” And we went over to Walter Reed, where you have tremendous professionals. They gave me Regeneron and Remdeceiver both. And all I know is I felt good the following day, I felt really good.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Did the doctors ever tell you that they saw pneumonia on your lung scans?

[DONALD TRUMP]
No, but they said the lungs are a little bit different, a little bit perhaps infected, and-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Infected with?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t do too much asking. I really felt good. I didn’t have much of a problem with the lungs. I did have a little bit of a temperature. Obviously, I felt there was something missing, and then I tested, I tested positive.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Well, let’s talk about testing because there’s a little bit of a, I guess, confusion about this. And I think we can clear it up.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Yeah, and there shouldn’t be.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Your first positive test was Thursday, October 1st, okay? When was your last negative test? When did you last remember having a negative test?

[DONALD TRUMP]
Well, I test quite a bit, and I can tell you that before the debate, which I thought it was a very good debate, and I felt fantastically, I had no problems before.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Did you test the day of the debate?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I don’t know, I don’t even remember. I test all the time. But I can tell you this, after the debate, I guess a day or so, I think it was Thursday evening, maybe even late Thursday evening, I tested positive. That’s when I first found out about it.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Well back to the debate, because the debate commission’s rules, it was the honor system.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Yeah.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Would be that you would come with a negative test. You say you don’t know if you’ve got a test on the day of the debate?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I had no problem. Again, the doctors do it. I don’t ask them. I test all the time. And they-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Did you take a test, though, on the day of the debate?

[DONALD TRUMP]
If you ask as the doctor, they’ll give you a perfect answer. But they take a test and I leave and I go about my business.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
So you did you take a test on the day of the debate, I guess is the bottom line?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I probably did, and I took a test the day before and the day before, and I was always in great shape, and I was in great shape for the debate. And it was only after the debate, a period of time after the debate that I said, “That’s interesting.” And they took a test and it tested positive.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Just to button it up, do you take a test every single day?

[DONALD TRUMP]
No. No, but I take a lot of tests.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay. And you don’t know if you took a test the day of the debate?

[DONALD TRUMP]
Possibly I did, possibly I didn’t. But the doctor has very accurate information and it’s not only that doctor, it’s many doctors. The one thing, if you’re President, you have a lot of doctors you’re surrounded by. But I was in great shape for the debate. And sometime after the debate, I tested positive, then that’s when they decided to, let’s go.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay, good. I hopefully provided some clarity for folks. Let’s talk about the event that was held at the White House on the Saturday before you tested positive. Subsequent to that, 13 people connected to that event tested positive. There was an outdoor reception, you’ve seen the pictures. There was an indoor reception. People were not wearing masks. My question to you is, at this point in the pandemic, knowing what we know, shouldn’t you have known better? Shouldn’t the White House know better than to hold an event like that?

[DONALD TRUMP]
Well, they do a lot of testing in the White House, they test everybody including me, but they test everybody. And something happened. But as far as the mask is concerned, I’m good with masks. I’m okay with masks. I tell people, wear a mask. But just the other day, they came out with a statement that 85% of the people that wear masks catch it. So this is a very-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
It didn’t say that. I know that study.

[DONALD TRUMP]
That’s what I heard, and that’s what I saw. And regardless, but everybody’s tested and they’re tested often. And I also knew that, hey, I’m President. I have to see people. I can’t be in a basement. I can’t be in a room. I can’t be… I have to be out.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
You can see people with a mask, though, right?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I can, but people with masks are catching it all the time. I mean, if you look at the Governor of Virginia, he was known for a mask. If you look at Thom Tillis, a great guy, he always had a mask, and they caught it.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Well, there are pictures of Thom Tillis, actually with one of Judge Barrett’s kids not wearing a mask. But you know Chris Christie, he was part of your debate prep.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Yeah.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
He was, I believe at that event. He came out tonight, he was sick, very sick. He was in the hospital for about a week.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Yes, I know this.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
He came out tonight and said, “I was wrong not to wear a mask.”

[DONALD TRUMP]
Well, I mean, he has to say that. I think it’s great, he’s a friend of mine. He’s a good guy. And wrong or not wrong, you have to understand, as President, I can’t be locked in a room someplace for the next year and just stay and do nothing. And every time I go into a crowd, I was with the parents of our fallen heroes. These people are the most incredible people. And they came up to me and they would hug me, and they would touch me, and I’m not to not let them do it, to be honest with you.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Now, there was an event with the gold star families the day after the Supreme Court event.

[DONALD TRUMP]
There was, exactly right. We had a gold star event with the most incredible people you’ve ever seen. And I could have chosen not to talk to them, or to keep everybody away. And you know what? I don’t think that’s probably where it was caught, but maybe it was.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
I going to say, you bring it up, you brought it up yourself. I mean, are you trying to suggest that? Do you believe a grieving military family gave you a COVID?

[DONALD TRUMP]
No, I don’t know where it came from, and you don’t know where it came from, and the doctors don’t know where it came from. But as the President, I have to be out there. I also know-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Well, there’s no one that says you can’t be out there, but it’s just about wearing masks and having… For example, your rallies.

[DONALD TRUMP]
I know this.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Your rallies don’t require masks.

[DONALD TRUMP]
I mean, let’s see, Kamala. She’s got people now, people have it, and I’m not blaming her. I’m not saying, “Oh, she did a terrible thing.” As President, I have to be out there. I can’t be in a basement. I can’t be locked in a very beautiful room someplace in the White House. And I want to see the gold star families, and I want to see everybody. And I also say to people all the time, it’s risky doing it. It is risky doing it.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
But as President, you’re right. You want to be a leader, but you also are a leader and a setter of an example. And if you’re not wearing a mask when your administration is saying, “Best practice right now is wear a mask,” no, it’s not foolproof. But that will-

[DONALD TRUMP]
But many people are catching it. Many people are getting this disease that was sent to us by China, and it shouldn’t have been allowed to happen. But many people are getting this. And I mean, nobody’s being blamed. Everybody is working hard to get this thing out of our country, get it out of the world. Look at what’s going on in Europe, massive spikes. They’ve done a very good job, but now you take a look today at the UK, you take a look at Spain and France and Italy. There’s tremendous spikes.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
But our death rate is worse than, well, not Spain, but those other countries.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Well, I have thing right here that will tell you exactly the opposite.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Me too.

[DONALD TRUMP]
The UK is up 2500%, because I knew you’d be doing this. I know you very well. The UK is up 2500%. The EU is up 722%. And the United States is down 21%.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
But we have per… Our deaths per capita is among the highest of all-

[DONALD TRUMP]
Excess mortality.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
I’m sorry?

[DONALD TRUMP]
Excess mortality, we’re a winner on the excess mortality. And what we’ve done has been amazing. And we have done an amazing job. And it’s rounding the corner and we have the vaccines coming, and we have the therapies coming. And I’ll tell you what, one thing. When I got it, I had a choice. Do nothing, or use some of the things that we’re looking at, like in this case, Regeneron. and Eli Lilly makes something that’s supposed to be incredible. And I think that maybe I wouldn’t be doing this discussion with you right now. We have therapies now and cures, maybe you can use the word cure, but we have therapies that are absolutely incredible, Savannah.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
I want to pick up on something you just said. You said we’re rounding the corner.

[DONALD TRUMP]
I believe we’re rounding the corner, yes.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
10% of the country approximately has had COVID. That means 80%-90%, 90%, let’s do the math, is still vulnerable.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Right, right. That’s right.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
There’s been some talk, including from the White House lately that perhaps it approves of what’s called herd immunity. That’s where you basically just let young people and everybody gets sick. You try to protect the old people and those who are sick. And hopefully, it gets up to a certain level, and now we’re all immune.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Yeah.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
So let’s just be clear about it. It also means more deaths. Do you support herd immunity as a strategy? Essentially, just let people get sick?

[DONALD TRUMP]
The cure can not be worse than the problem itself. We did the right thing. We were expected to lose 2,200,000 people, and maybe more than that. We’re at 210,000 people. One person is too much, it should have never happened because of China. It happened because of China. And you have to get that and understand that. But it shouldn’t have happened. But we were expected to lose, if you look at the original charts from original doctors who are respected by everybody, 2,200,00 people.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
That 2 million figure, though, is if you literally did nothing.

[DONALD TRUMP]
We saved 2 million people.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
The 2 million figure is if you did absolutely nothing, it would be 2 million. The question is, should the deaths be better than 200,000, when-

[DONALD TRUMP]
I don’t know, let me tell you what is happening. I left North Carolina, which I love. I left Pennsylvania. We won a big case in Michigan because that governor has a lockdown where nobody but her husband can do anything. He can go boating and do whatever he wants, but nobody else can. The fact is we’re winning all these cases because it’s unconstitutional what they’re doing. And I think they’re doing it for political reasons. But the fact is the cure, you can’t let this continue to go on with the lockdowns. And I believe that on November 4th, you’re going to have a lot of these governors.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Look at what’s happening to New York. New York is a mess. They lost almost 40,000 people. They have a lockdown like you’ve never seen. Now they’re open, it’s like a ghost town. And Savannah, it’s very important. People are leaving New York by the thousands, and you’re going to have a hard time ever building it up again. So that cure, that so called cure that you talk about, it can’t be worse than the problem. The problem is a bad problem.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
We’ve got more questions.

[DONALD TRUMP]
… than the problem. The problem is a bad problem.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
We’ve got more questions on COVID-

[DONALD TRUMP]
Okay, fine.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
… so let’s drop it, for now. We were supposed to, as mentioned, be watching you on a debate stage right now. We’re not doing that, so let’s clear up a few things from the last one. You were asked point blank to denounce white supremacy. In the moment, you didn’t. You asked some follow up questions. “Who, specifically?” A couple of days later, on a different show-

[DONALD TRUMP]
Oh, you always do this.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
… you denounced white supremacy.

[DONALD TRUMP]
No, you always do this.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
My question to you is-

[DONALD TRUMP]
You’ve done this to me, and everybody-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
… why does it seem like-

[DONALD TRUMP]
I denounce white supremacy. Okay?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
You did, two days later.

[DONALD TRUMP]
I’ve denounced white supremacy, for years, but you always do it. You always start off with the question. You didn’t ask Joe Biden, whether or not he denounces Antifa. I watched him on the same basic show with Lester Holt, and he was asking questions like Biden was a child.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Well, so this is a little bit of a dodge.

[DONALD TRUMP]
So, are you ready? Are you… Wait. Are you listening? I denounce white supremacy.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay.

[DONALD TRUMP]
What’s your next question?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Do you feel, it feels sometimes you’re hesitant to do so, like you wait a beat.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Hesitant? Here we go again. Every time… In fact, my people came, “I’m sure they’ll ask you the white supremacy question.” I denounce white supremacy.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay.

[DONALD TRUMP]
And frankly, you want to know something? I denounce Antifa, and I denounce these people on the left that are burning down our cities, that are run by Democrats who don’t know what they’re doing-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
All right, while we’re denouncing, let me ask you about QAnon. It is this theory that Democrats are a satanic pedophile ring and that you are the savior, of that. Now can you just, once and for all, state that that is completely not true, and-

[DONALD TRUMP]
Yeah

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
… disavow QAnon-

[DONALD TRUMP]
Yeah.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
… in its entirety?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I know nothing about QAnon.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
I just told you.

[DONALD TRUMP]
I know very little. You told me, but what you tell me, doesn’t necessarily make it fact. I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you’d like me to-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
They believe that it is a Satanic cult run by the deep state.

[DONALD TRUMP]
… study the subject. I’ll tell you what I do know about. I know about Antifa, and I know about the radical left, and I know how violent they are and how vicious they are. And I know how they are burning down cities run by Democrats, not run by Republicans.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Republican Senator Ben Sasse said, quote, “QAnon is nuts and real leaders call conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories.”

[DONALD TRUMP]
He may be right.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Why not just say, "it’s crazy and not true"?

[DONALD TRUMP]
Can I be honest? He may be right. I just don’t know about QAnon.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
You do know.

[DONALD TRUMP]
I don’t know. No, I don’t know. I don’t know. You tell me all about it.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Let me ask you another thing.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Let’s waste the whole show. You start off with white supremacy. I denounce it. You start off with something else. Let’s go. Keep asking me these questions. But let me just-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay, I do have one more in this vein.

[DONALD TRUMP]
… let me just tell you. What I do hear about it, is they are very strongly against pedophilia. And I agree with that. I mean, I do agree with that-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay.

[DONALD TRUMP]
… and I agree with it very strongly.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
But there’s not a Satanic pedophile cult being run by-

[DONALD TRUMP]
I have no idea. I know nothing about them.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
You don’t know that? Okay.

[DONALD TRUMP]
No, I don’t know that.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
You, just this week-

[DONALD TRUMP]
And neither do you, know that.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay. Just this week, you retweeted-

[DONALD TRUMP]
Why aren’t you asking me about Antifa? Why aren’t you asking me about the radical left?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Because you just, because you’re volunteering it.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Why aren’t you asking Joe Biden questions about, why doesn’t he condemn Antifa? Why does he say it doesn’t exist?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Because you’re here, before me.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Antifa, no, excuse me. That’s so cute. Antifa exists. They’re vicious, they’re violent. They kill people, and they’re burning down our cities. And they happen to be radical left.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Just this week, you retweeted to your 87 million followers, a conspiracy theory that Joe Biden orchestrated to have SEAL Team Six, the Navy SEAL Team Six, killed to cover up the fake death of Bin Laden. Now, why would you send a lie like that to your followers?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I know nothing about it, can I-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
You retweeted it.

[DONALD TRUMP]
That was a retweet. That was an opinion of somebody-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
But-

[DONALD TRUMP]
…. and that was a retweet. I’ll put it out there. People can decide for themselves. I don’t take a position.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
I don’t get that, you’re the President. You’re not like, someone’s crazy uncle who can just-

[DONALD TRUMP]
No, no. No, no.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
… retweet, whatever.

[DONALD TRUMP]
That was a retweet. And I do a lot of retweets. And frankly, because the media is so fake, and so corrupt, if I didn’t have social media… I don’t call it Twitter, I call it social media. I wouldn’t be able to get the word out. And the word is-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Well, the word is false.

[DONALD TRUMP]
… and you know what the word is? The word is very simple. We’re building our country, stronger and better than it’s ever been before.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Let’s stop-

[DONALD TRUMP]
And that’s what’s happening. And everybody knows it.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay, we’ve got a bunch of questions for you.

[DONALD TRUMP]
You know what else the word is? We’re winning in a lot of states.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay.

[DONALD TRUMP]
We’re winning in a lot of States. You’re going to see that.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Well, let me ask… Okay. I’m glad you brought up the election, because I do want to ask about that. That’s another kind of leftover item. A lot of people have asked you, will you accept a peaceful transfer of power? You have said, repeatedly, “The only way we lose this election is, if it is rigged.” Now, that is simply not true. The fact is, either candidate can lose fair and square, without ballot fraud.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Sure, they can. And do you know what?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
So, will you accept the results of the election?

[DONALD TRUMP]
Win or lose, that’s the way I want it to be. But when I see thousands of ballots, right? Unsolicited ballots, being given out by the millions, and thousands of them are dumped in dumpsters. And when you see ballots with the name Trump, military ballots, from our great military. And they’re dumped in garbage cans-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
That is a handful… We could go all night, which we won’t.

[DONALD TRUMP]
No, no, it’s happening every day.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
But, we could go all night, one by one. A single case, a single day. You’re talking about 150 million votes. Your own FBI director says, there is no evidence of widespread fraud.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Oh, really? Well, then he’s not doing a very good job. All you have to do is pick up the papers every day. 50,000 in Ohio, the great state of Ohio. 50,000 in another location, I think North Carolina. 500,000 applications in Virginia. No, no, there’s a tremendous problem.

[DONALD TRUMP]
But let me just tell you, they talk about the peaceful transfer, right? They spied on my campaign and they got caught. And they spied heavily, on my campaign. And they tried to take down a duly elected sitting president. And then, they talk about, “Will you accept a peaceful transfer?” And the answer is, yes, I will. But I want it to be an honest election. And so does everybody else. When I see thousands of ballots dumped in a garbage can, and they happen to have my name on it? I’m not happy about that.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay, but just… Those are case, there is no, there is in fact, no evidence of widespread fraud. And you are sowing doubt about our democracy.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Could I ask you, how can you say that?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Our democracy.

[DONALD TRUMP]
How can you say that? You do read newspapers?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
I do.

[DONALD TRUMP]
You do watch the news?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Yes, I do.

[DONALD TRUMP]
I know you read the news, but do you watch it?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
I do.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Because, every day, they’re talking about ballots that are corrupt, that are fraudulent.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
And millions that are-

[DONALD TRUMP]
Sure.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
… being processed right now.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Sure, sure. But you can win a race… Take a look at me. You can win a race by 1%.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
So why are you laying the groundwork for that, right now?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I’m not, I don’t want that to happen.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
It’s like, if I go play tennis with my husband and I say, ” My ankle is hurting right now.”

[DONALD TRUMP]
You know what? I don’t want that to happen. Savannah. I want it to be clean.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay.

[DONALD TRUMP]
And I want… I really feel we’re going to win, but I want this to be clean.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Let’s get to questions.

[DONALD TRUMP]
But it’s sort of ironic that you, and them, talk about the peaceful transfer when I spent three and a half years fighting off these maniacs. And now, it turns out, everything’s there. That they were the ones that dealt with Russia, and it’s too bad.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Okay.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Peaceful transfer, I absolutely want that. But ideally, I don’t want to transfer, because I want to win.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Yes. And I think that, your words will probably reassure some folks. Let’s get to our first voter. We’ve got Jacqueline Lugo. Now she is, I told you, this audience is truly split between y’all. You are leaning Biden, she voted for Clinton in 2016. She’s registered as an Independent. Jacqueline, what’s your question for the President? And hold the mic up close, and take off your mic, because it’s hard to hear, out here.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Sure.

[JACQUELINE LUGO]
Good evening.

[DONALD TRUMP]
How are you?

[JACQUELINE LUGO]
Welcome to Miami.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Thank you very much, it’s beautiful.

[JACQUELINE LUGO]
Mr. President, if you knew COVID-19, as you told Bob Woodward in February-

[DONALD TRUMP]
As what?

[JACQUELINE LUGO]
As you told Bob Woodward in February, was airborne and deadlier than the flu, why did you only put in place a travel ban from China, and not put in place other measures mitigating the spread of COVID-19, potentially saving tens of thousands of American lives?

[DONALD TRUMP]
Well, I did put it in very early, as you know, Joe Biden was two months behind me, and he called me xenophobic and racist and everything else, because I put it in. And it turned out that I was 100% right. I also put it on Europe, very early, because I saw there was a lot of infection in Europe. And it’s sort of an amazing question. And I appreciate the question, and respect the question, but the news doesn’t get out the right answer.

Because I put on a travel ban far earlier than Dr. Fauci thought it was necessary. Who I like. Far earlier than the scientists… I was actually the only one that wanted to put it on. And I did it, actually against the advice of a lot of people, including Nancy Pelosi who had no clue what she was doing. And, Biden.

When I put on the travel ban… You know, I put it on in January. The end of January. When I put on the travel ban Joe Biden, and others, said, “This is ridiculous. You don’t do that.” Well, Dr. Fauci said, I saved thousands and thousands of lives.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Did you [crosstalk 00:25:52]-

[DONALD TRUMP]
I was early, I was extremely early, when I put on the travel ban.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Can I ask you, did your National Security Advisor, on January 28th in the Oval Office, warn you that this would be the greatest national security risk of your administration?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I read that, but no, he didn’t.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
He didn’t say it, or you don’t remember?

[DONALD TRUMP]
I read it… I read it, someplace. Maybe Woodward said it, or something. But no, he did not say that. But, I knew it was a big threat. At the same time, I don’t want to panic this country. I don’t want to go out and say, “Everybody’s going to die. Everybody’s going to-”

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Isn’t there a middle ground?

[DONALD TRUMP]
Okay?

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
You don’t have to mislead-

[DONALD TRUMP]
No, there’s not a middle ground.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
… but you can-

[DONALD TRUMP]
No, no. No. There’s not a middle ground. You have to be safe. You have to be vigilant, and you have to be smart.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
You’re going to like this next couple of voters.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Okay. Good.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
It’s a mom and a daughter. Mom, Barbara voted for you in 2016. She’s leaning to vote for you again. Now, her daughter was too young to vote last time, she’s going to vote for her first time in a presidential campaign. And she is leaning, Biden. So imagine the dinner table at their house. Okay?

[DONALD TRUMP]
We’ll talk you out of it.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
So Barbara, why don’t you go first, and ask your question.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Bienvenido a Miami.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Thank you.

[BARBARA PENA]
Mr. Trump, as a frontline ER doctor, working through the coronavirus pandemic-

[DONALD TRUMP]
Right.

[BARBARA PENA]
… I know firsthand, and I’ve seen that many hospitals throughout the United States, are suffering financial hardships. These economic effects are trickling down to the frontline workers.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Right.

[BARBARA PENA]
We are being… Across the country, frontline workers are being fired, they’re being furloughed. Our salaries are being cut, and this is also happening another economic sectors as well, including the travel industry and hospitality.

[DONALD TRUMP]
Right.

[BARBARA PENA]
My question to you is, how are you going to get the United States back on track, both in terms of the economy and the pandemic?

[DONALD TRUMP]
So, it’s happening. We just set a record, 11.4 million jobs. We are going to have a phenomenal third quarter, which will be announced on November 1st, just prior to the big November 3rd day, where I think you’re going to see a red wave. But we’re going to have a tremendous announcement. I believe. I mean, we’re going to find out, but GDP is going through the roof. Jobs, real estate, houses. So many things are happening.

[DONALD TRUMP]
So, people were saying, we’re going to have a 42% unemployment. Look, this was a thing that came into our country and it happened a hundred, more than a hundred years ago, and it happened now. They were talking about a 42% unemployment rate.

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
Who was talking about that?

[DONALD TRUMP]
It came out, it just came out-

[SAVANNAH GUTHRIE]
I heard, 20%.

[DONALD TRUMP]
… at 7.8% unemployment, and people can’t even believe it. Our economy is going to be… Next year, if we don’t have somebody that raises taxes and quadruples taxes, which they want to do, and it kills everything. Our economy is going to be phenomenal, next year. We’re going to have a phenomenal…

[DONALD TRUMP]
And, I’ll tell you, Savannah. We had the greatest economy in the history of our country last year, including the state of Florida, where we are now. In Pennsylvania, in North Carolina, in Ohio, every place. We had the greatest economy we ever had. We had to close it down, we saved two million lives. We’re opening it up. We have a V-shape and it’s coming back. It’s coming back very fast.